Howmore Church, South Uist
Howmore Church, South Uist
Howmore Parish Church is a Category B listed Church of Scotland kirk at Howmore, South Uist. Historic Environment Scotland records a design of 1837 by Archibald Scott of Edinburgh, built in the 1840s. The listing name is Howmore Parish Church and Churchyard Walls (LB18771).
- Location
- South Uist, Western Isles
- Country
- Scotland
- County
- Western Isles
- City / town
- South Uist
- Address
- Howmore, South Uist, Western Isles, HS8 5SH
- Postcode
- HS8 5SH
- Built
- Designed 1837; built 1840s
- Architect
- Archibald Scott of Edinburgh
- Denomination
- Church of Scotland
- Parish
- South Uist
- Grade
- B
- Style
- Plain harled kirk with Y-tracery
- Materials
- Harled masonry; slate roof
- Grid reference
- NF 757 364
- Opening hours
- We consider our church to be a spiritual place of sanctuary and as such the church is usually open at all times. During spring 2020, we are in the midst of a major renovation project and therefore the is no access for the first few months of 2020.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
The official description is a plain three-bay rectangular church, all harled, with a former vestry on the north wall and a later hall adjoining. Openings are round-headed; a door and gallery window stand in the east gable below a gabled apex belfry; the tall bay windows have Y-tracery. The roof is slated, with straight skews and gabletted skewputts. Inside, a long central communion table with a marbled top runs the length of the church — noted as a rare survival — with the pulpit on the west wall and an east gallery on two columns.
The presbytery chose Scott's plan over a scheme by Alexander MacKenzie of Portree. Howmore has been an ecclesiastical centre of South Uist for many centuries; ruined chapels including Teampull Mor lie nearby. Later congregational accounts sometimes date the build to 1857–58 and name local craftsmen; the statutory list remains the authority for architect and date. Scottish listings are not entered as Historic England or Cadw list-entry URLs.